The Differences Between LTE and WiMAX

At the moment, the biggest rival to LTE technology is WiMAX. They offer almost identical benefits in terms of speed and coverage they are completely different technologies. Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is the industry term for a long-range wireless networking standard. Both LTE and WiMAX technology has the potential to deliver high-speed mobile broadband Internet access. They appear to have the similar goals for enabling worldwide wireless data network connectivity for cell phone, laptops and other computing devices. This causes many are confused as to what the difference is between them because these are two systems developing along the same lines but optimized to work somewhat differently. In this post, the difference between LTE and WiMAX from different aspects will be highlightened.

The primary difference between LTE and WiMAX are the differences in upbringing, meaning both of them having the similar frameworks of technology but ties between 2 standards. The other differences included are:

Background:

LTE is the most recent in the line of the GSM broadband network evolvement. The ever-improved technologies under 3GPP family from GSM, GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA to HSPA and finally to LTE emerged and become the fastest form of internet connection. LTE offers data speeds of up to 300Mbps for downlink and 75Mbps in uplink.

WiMAX, another 4G technology evolved from a Wi-Fi, IP-based background. It uses the IEEE 802.16 standard established by IEEE standards board in 1999 for the global deployment of wireless broadband networks. The standard was then amended into many versions and finally the most popularly used standard for WiMAX - 802.16e turn up. The standard is then further revised and continued to amend and each amended version of WiMAX standard increases coverage capacity and service performance. After that, WiMAX have taken over by WiMAX Forum.

Backwards Compatibility:

LTE is designed to be backwards compatible with GSM and HSPA. This is to ensure the connectivity of the mobile device when it exceed the coverage of LTE network, it can fall back on a 2.5G or 3G network, assuming it has the requisite radio technologies.

WiMAX, the updated version called "Mobile WiMAX" is backwards compatible with the previous WiMAX standard 802.16d, known as "Fixed WiMAX".

Speed:

LTE offers a speed of 300Mbps for downlink and uplink speeds of 75Mbps at peak rates.

“Fixed WiMAX” can offer speeds of up to 75Mbps and “Mobile WiMAX” offer speeds of up to 30Mbps. However, the standard 802.16m enable the service offer speeds of up to 1Gbps.

IP:

Both LTE and WiMAX are IP based instead of mobile phone network-based.

LTE follows the earlier telephony GSM technology while WiMAX breaks from the IP pattern of its Wi-Fi predecessor.

All voice applications for both WiMAX and LTE are managed via VoIP.

OFDM:

Technically, while both have a scalable OFDM downlink, LTE is far more flexible, allowing many more combinations of tones, at the expense of complexity (DFT instead of the 2^n of WiMAX which allows FFT).

WiMAX has an OFDM uplink, while LTE adds another step to generate a single carrier modulation (SC-FDMA), which is more power efficient in the terminal, saving battery power (at the expense of slightly more complexity in terminal, and significantly more in base station)

FDD and TDD:

LTE primarily allows both FDD and TDD for full duplex on two 5MHz channels.

WiMAX uses TDD for half duplex on one 10MHz channel.

SIM and Customer ID Systems:

LTE will require the use of a SIM in order to operate. This will be convenient for cellular devices that are already compatible with a SIM, but not for laptops and other technological devices without SIM interfaces.

WiMAX however, does not require a SIM or any other hardware token. Therefore, all authentication methods used to identify a customer’s device will be easily entered into several devices. The one WiMAX device can be configured to use one set of customer ID settings, enabling it to be easily used for multiple WiMAX networks in different locations, or within the same network but for different customer identities. This is an example of the major difference between WiMAX and LTE.

WiMAX is more of an open Internet service and its devices will be compatible with most all Internet devices. LTE, on the other hand, is more exclusive to certain ISPs.

Application:

WiMAX is primarily aimed at Greenfield (new) fixed to mobile deployments while LTE is mostly aimed at incumbent (existing) deployments that must work with existing networks and business practices

Wireless Spectrum:

WiMAX has not defined any one fixed band for its wireless signaling. Outside the U.S., WiMAX products have conventionally targeted 3.5GHz as that is an emerging standard for mobile broadband technologies generally. In the U.S., however, the 3.5GHz band is mostly reserved for use by the government. WiMAX products in the U.S. have typically utilized 2.5GHz instead although various other ranges are also available. LTE providers in the U.S. intend to use a few different bands including 700MHz (0.7GHz).

Cost:

The cost of the two technologies will also differ, and this may have a major impact on which of the technologies network providers opt for. In general, LTE has a lower cost compared to WiMAX

Overall, LTE is faster, but WiMAX has more ubiquity. Additionally, WiMAX is already commercially available and many ISPs worldwide are getting the feel of it, while LTE is still under construction. This may offer LTE an opportunity to become a more sophisticated network and to provide proficiency in areas where WiMAX is lacking. However, neither technology is surmised to replace Wi-Fi home networks and hotspots. For consumers, then, the choice between LTE and WiMAX comes down to which services are available in their region and offer better speed and reliability.